Please urgently sign this very important petition to try and stop the culling of dispersing baboons before it’s too late.  This petition is valid and can be shown as public support for the baboons. As I write this, Bart, a lone male, is being followed relentlessly for capturing and ‘euthanasia” by the authorities.   He is not the only adult male baboon ear-marked for imminent death, despite them being a protected species on the Cape Peninsula.

This is in spite of the fact that for hundreds, if not housands of years, adult male baboons have moved from the peninsula to find new troops further inland. Nowadays because of city development the traditional route through the Cape Flats to the Hottentots Holland mountains has been cut off, thereby leaving baboons such as Bart with no option but to either risk their lives by crossing the Cape Flats or staying in the suburbs of Cape Town as a lone male, tempted by the easy food readily available from bins, fruit trees and houses.

The City of Cape Town and Cape Nature Conservation refuses to assist these males off the peninsula by translocating them to a new troop, because they feel there is no conservation benefit, even though translocation is an option set out in the new protocol. Another excuse they are using is the problem of internal parasites and the worry that baboons from the urban edge will infect other troops not living on the edge. I feel that this really needs to be researched in more detail, with input from experienced primatologists, as there seems to be conflicting scientific opinion around this thought.

The word “Euthenase” is being used in all official correspondence and statements around this issue. To me “euthanasia” means relieving animals of pain and suffering, when there is no viable option available for the animal to live out their natural life in comfort and freedom. Therefore I am not using the term “euthenase” in this letter to you, as it is misleading. There are most certainly viable options available for these males, and for Bart in particular. All they need is a little assistance, in this case by the CITY of Cape Town, to get through the city of Cape Town.

HUMANE CAPTURE
NSPCA has specified to Cape Nature that the baboons are not allowed to be shot by a sharp shooter, but need to be captured and then killed humanely by injection. In the past few weeks, the new service provider has attempted to catch Bart unsuccessfully, spending R12 000 on vet bills. Baboon Matters has offered to help catch him for translocation, as with the experience and success rate of their Rescue Team, they would probably have more chance of success. Their offer was declined.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Baboon Matters is calling for the translocation of Bart and other dispersing males off the peninsula, rather than taking the lethal management option. If you would like to voice your opinion and make a difference, please send an email to the Mayor of Cape Town: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

You can also sign the on-line petition that I have set up. This petition is valid and can be shown
as public support for the baboons.

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-the-culling-of-cape-towns-baboons.html

Have a look at http://www.wildnorthwest.org/galleries/baboons.html to meet and get to
know the baboons of the cape, through the beautiful photographs of Brett Cole